Mercurial Developer Access

Mercurial Developer Access is the key—fast, precise, and built for teams that need control without chaos. It is the difference between guessing who can push changes and knowing exactly who can shape the repository at any moment.

Mercurial’s access controls let you define rules at every layer. Read-only for some. Write access for others. Complete revocation for those no longer on the project. This isn’t theory—it’s a declarative implementation using ACLs and repository-level permissions. Once configured, developer access hooks into authentication systems, ensuring every commit comes from a trusted source.

The workflow is straightforward:

1. Configure your .hgaccess or equivalent ACL file.
2. Map permissions to user IDs or groups.
3. Integrate authentication with LDAP, SSH keys, or HTTPS credentials.
4. Test with controlled pushes before granting full access.

Fine-grained control over developer access means fewer broken builds, faster code reviews, and reduced exposure to malicious or accidental commits. Mercurial provides server-side verification, so unauthorized changes are rejected before they touch the main branch.

For distributed teams, restricting developer access can prevent divergence in code history. Combined with branch-level policies, this keeps the repository clean and maintainable over long lifecycles. These settings persist regardless of client configuration, making central enforcement possible even in loosely connected environments.

Security and speed do not have to conflict. With Mercurial Developer Access, you control contributors at the source, ensure proper review flow, and lock down sensitive modules without slowing deployment.

Give your developers the right keys and lock everything else. See it live with hoop.dev—set up Mercurial Developer Access in minutes.